Chronicles of Riddick – Resurrection
by Royal Campari
Summary: Adria has been kept in the deepest of all cryo-sleeps for thirty-one years – a prisoner of the Lord Marshal. Her only company: Shirah, the ghost of all Furyans. But when the Lord Marshal is defeated and Adria is freed, she has to choose between her inheritance and her loyalty for her kind – and that defiant Furyan alpha-male doesn't make her decision any easier…
1. Prolog

_Disclaimer:__ I don't own Riddick or anything, you may recognize from the movies, just Adria and the other Furyans are mine. :)_

_Author's Note:__ Since English is not my mother thounge (that would be German), please don't flame me because of possibly occuring mistakes - you are welcome to write me a message so I can correct them!_

_This fanfic follows right after the end of "The chronicles of Riddick", will take you through "Riddick" and further into the universe of our favourite anti-hero._

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><p><strong>1 – Prolog<strong>

The man opposite to her betrayed no emotion at all, his face an unmoving mask. "So, what do you say now, seer?", he asked her as they watched the bloodbath beneath them.

"You are a sick bastard, that's what I say…", she breathed, but refused to look away from what happened. After all it was her fault… She had been the one, who had told the Lord Marshal, who would defeat him one day. Now they where all dead… Stupid, she had been plainly stupid!

"You are entertaining, seer", he stated. "I think I will keep you… just for a while…" His grin brought goose bumps up on her arms. She was not dumb after all… the Lord Marshal keeping her couldn't mean anything even close to good…

"You will never own me! I'd rather die!", she spat out. Had she not been chained, she would have gone for his throat, but unfortunately he knew her temper, a temper, most Furyans had.

Now that piece of shit actually had the nerve to laugh at her. He laughed at her over the dead bodies of Furyans, of newborn babies, strangled with their own umbilical cords. When he had forced her to tell him about her prediction, she had never thought he would consider genocide on the Furyan race. How wrong had she been, how naïve and arrogant… How he had found out about it in the first place? She didn't know.

She had thought her people could stop him, but even the fiercest Furyan warriors couldn't stand up against the wrath of the ruling Necromonger…

"Well, my dear… what did you say? My end would come in the form of a Furyan warrior?", the Lord Marshal asked. "But tell me: Who is left…? We got them all. They are dead, little girl… Gone forever…" With each word he had stepped closer to her until he stood only inches away from her, still she refused to budge even a single step. "And you couldn't do anything against it." He seized her up and down. "You look tired, my precious seer… I think I will let you sleep for a while and if there should actually be a Furyan left, who tries to challenge me one day… I will wake you to see his bleeding corpse…"

A shiver went down her spine… he would not keep her, not in the regular way… he would freeze her, like some sick experiment… but the worst part was, a Furyan mind didn't go to cryo-sleep, like any other mind… it stayed awake… for eternity if he should decide so…

And while the woman with the scary gleaming eyes was put into her cold prison, the cry of a newborn warrior echoed through the night…


	2. Awakening

**Autor's Note: **Recommeded Soudtrack: Anthem of the Angels, _Breaking Benjamin_

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><p><strong>2 – Awakening<strong>

_31 years later… _

Richard B. Riddick stared at the Necromongers kneeling in front of him as he sat on the throne of the deceased sixth Lord Marshal Zhylaw, Kyra sitting on the stairs to his feet, struggling to keep herself upright, her head resting against Riddick's legs. Her injuries took their toll of her, even if they were not as lethal as he had thought first.

_Could this really be the end?,_ Riddick questioned himself. That would be a first. Nothing was ever that easy. A single kill never ended the whole game… His instincts didn't cheat on him as Aereon, the Air-Elemental he had met at Imam's house, stepped up to him.

"You did it, Riddick…", she stated. "You are now the new Lord Marshal of the Necromongers… but this is not the end of your story…"

Riddick pressed his fingers to his forehead. "Sister…", he growled with a suppressed sign. "Speak in clear language… I'm in no mood to guess what you are talking about…" He felt like he had been sent to hell and back and all he wanted to do, was to get to a semi-safe place and catch some sleep. Was that too much to ask for?

"Defiant as always…", Aereon whispered smiling to herself, then she spoke aloud. "There is someone you need to meet."

"And who would that be?" Riddick swallowed the _old bat_, that lay on this tongue. Aereon was getting on his nerves with her evasiveness, but the easiest way to keep her off his back, was to submit until a certain point, and he was too tired to argue anyway… it hat been a long time, since he felt that way…

The Elemental bowed her head slightly. "Someone, who can tell you more about your heritage, than any other living being in this universe." She turned to Vaako, who was still on his knees. "Take us to the seer", Aereon ordered and watched, as the commander of the Necromongers raised his head and awaited the order from his new leader.

"Whoever this seer may be…", Riddick stated and stood, helping Kyra to her feet too as they followed Vaako out of the hall and down the corridors of the _Basilika_.

ooo

The high tank – you couldn't call it any other way – their group stood in front of, was filled with a light blue liquid, that seemed to have built small ice crystals on the glass it was made of. That itself was not the strangest thing about it, but the content of it was.

A sleeping, young woman floated in the liquid – kept in place by thin wires and tubes. Her skin an unnatural blue colour, like the liquid itself.

"Who is that?", Kyra asked surprisingly quiet. "What happened to her?"

Riddick threw a pointed glare at Vaako to answer her question when he didn't open his mouth fast enough and the doctors around them didn't make any attempt to either.

"It's said, she was taken as a price, when a planet of warriors was destroyed", the young commander answered uneasily. "I've never seen her in any other condition than this since I joined the Necromongers."

Aereon didn't look satisfied with his answer. "She was not a simple price, you moron", she added. "Not even the Lord Marshal would keep an average prisoner conserved in cryo-sleep for more than thirty years just for his personal fun."

"So enlighten us…", Riddick growled and stepped closer to the tank to take a closer look at the woman. He couldn't see colours all that clearly, but from what he recognised her body temperature had to be way too low for a living being.

"Her name is Adria", Aereon began slowly and thought about how much of the story she should tell them right away and what Adria would have to tell by herself. "She was the seer, who made the prediction about the Lord Marshal more than thirty years ago. The prediction about his downfall…", she continued eventually. Now the Elemental had not only Riddick's attention, but that of everyone else in the room too. "She is probably the only Furyan left, who can answer your questions about where you come from – most likely the only dominant Furyan, who survived the bloodshed. We have to free her to find out more."

Riddick didn't even consider asking the dumbstruck medics next to him. Instead he just hit the emergence release button on the console next to the tank. The glass shattered immediately, releasing a flood of blue liquid to their feet. Including the half-naked body of the woman. Riddick caught her in his arms and lowered her to the floor before her body could hit the ground hard. Aereon was by her side seconds later, covering the shaking and coughing woman with her cloak. The meds, the system had shot into her body only nanoseconds before the glass had burst seemed to revive her quickly. "It's okay, my friend", Aereon whispered quietly and caressed the woman's hair. "You will be fine again soon…"

The younger woman twisted and turned onto her back, suddenly opening her eyes. Everyone except Aereon and Riddick took a step back. Her eyeballs were the deepest of blacks, her pupils not existing. Instead of them there where two gleaming orbs staring into nothing until the darkness of the woman's eyeballs covered her eyes completely and she closed them again, breathing a nearly non-audible "Aereon…" before she lost consciousness and lay still in the arms of the Elemental.

"Interesting…", Riddick just stated and looked at Aereon questioning. "I guess you have some explaining to do once our sleeping beauty here wakes…"

ooo

Adria woke with the mother of all headaches she had ever experienced and groaned loud. She felt, like she had been hit with… well… she couldn't even fathom what would hurt that much. When a cool, wet cloth appeared out of nowhere on her forehead the pain seemed to cease away slightly. But the woman didn't dare to open her eyes, afraid of the light that would most likely await her.

"You are safe now, Adria", she heard the faint whisper of a voice, she hadn't heard in decades. "It's dark, you can open your eyes now."

"Aereon… is that you…?", the Furyan whispered and slowly started to blink her eyes open. Indeed the room was only dimly lit but it still took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the faint light and to register the white clad form next to the bed.

"It is, my friend…", the old Elemental stated evenly und brushed a stray lock of blond hair from Adria's face. "It's been a while…"

Carefully Adria tried to get herself into a sitting position, but her body didn't cooperate yet so she let herself sink back against the soft cushions. "H-how… long was I… out…?", she managed to say finally, closing her eyes again. Her throat felt dry, her voice raspy like sandpaper.

Aereon seemed to debate if she should tell the other female. "A little more than thirty-one years…", she said eventually and handed a glass of water to Adria.

Her hands shook slightly when the younger female grabbed the glass and drank the clear liquid greedily. She stared into nothing for several minutes as her brain processed the information. Thirty-one years… in her mind it has seemed like an eternity… in the end it was close to half a human life… She finally looked up into the eyes of her old friend, registering the changes in Aereon's appearance. Time had left a mark on her face and while the Elemental had always been lightly coloured it was obvious she had lost the shine of her youth. The two of them had always been two parts of one whole. Black and white… Adria had been the darkness to Aereon's light.

Adria swallowed the last of her water slowly. "I'm sorry…", she stated. "For everything that happened… I should never…"

"Oh don't you dare, Adria!", Aereon interrupted. "It was not your fault that the Lord Marshal destroyed the Furyans!"

"But if I hadn't…"

"No, dear… he would have attacked and killed them anyway", the Elemental said matter of fact. "They would never have bowed to him and his believes. It was only a matter of time."

Adria knew her friend was right, but she couldn't just leave everything behind her. So many people had died that night. A whole civilisation of warriors hunted to extinction within hours.

"You didn't lead that monster to your planet…", Aereon went on. "It's rather that you bought us time to get the one to safety, that mattered most…"

The young woman stared at the older in disbelieve… "What are you talking about?", she whispered. "He killed them all… no one survived on the planet…"

"And that's where you are wrong, my friend. Shirah's chosen survived. Your queen gave birth that night and although the Lord Marshal tried to strangle the infant right after he took his first breath, the boy survived. I got him off planet myself. He is now right here, on this ship. He was the one, who killed the Lord Marshal." A small smile played along Aereon's lips. "Not all is lost, Adria. There are rumours of a hand full of Furyans, who may have survived. If you can reunite them…"

Now it was Adria's time to interrupt her friend. "You are talking about the Furyan race to rise again? That's impossible! Even if some survived, why should they want to unite and return to a planet that's been destroyed decades ago? Especially if I ask them to?"

"Oh, my dear, you are underestimating yourself", Aereon answered evenly. "And that Furyan male… he is a true Alpha-predator. They will follow him, I assure you. Your brethren have been without a home for a long time now. They are longing for a place to call their own. A place they belong to. Do you really want to deny them this feeling?"

Adria turned to the windows that were shielded by heavy curtains. Aereon made an awful lot of sense… She could practically feel the bright sunlight outside and remembered the feeling of Furya's sun on her skin. The warmth… "Maybe you are right…", she said eventually and turned back to Aereon. "Will you help me get ready? I guess I need to talk to this Furyan male and find out what he is made of for myself…"

ooo

Riddick opened the door to the quarters assigned to the strange female shortly after Aereon had called for him. The Elemental had said that the young woman was now fully awake and wanted to talk to him but nothing more. Damn the old bat for her secretiveness again…

In the last hours he had seen that Kyra finally got the medical attention and rest she needed. He found a place for himself to shower and to crash for a short and desperately needed nap, and thought about the strange female. Who was she? Or better yet: _What_ was she? He had not come to a logical answer so he could only hope, that the blond stranger was nothing like Aereon and he would be able to get at least a few answers out of her.

He stopped short inside her rooms when he saw the two figures at the tall windows. Both clad in the distinctive flowing gowns of the Elementals. Even without seeing their colouring it was out of questioning which one of them was Aereon and which one the other woman. The younger woman stood tall next to the old Elemental – he guessed she was at least 5.8 ft in height–, her back to him and a hood covering her hair. She was clad in darker colours than the Air-Elemental, who now turned herself to Riddick and greeted him with a friendly expression.

"Ah, there you are. We were awaiting you", she said with a smile playing along her lips as she glanced at the woman next to her. "It is my pleasure to introduce an old friend to you. Riddick, meet Adria Ryder."

The other female finally turned to him and studied him with a look that seemed to be a mixture of curiosity and caution. Riddick registered, that her eyes where pitch black as earlier and he became anxious to know, how she did that little trick – and why her eyes had had the same shine like his own. Also her hair had changed. No longer blonde it had now a far darker colour – approximately black.

"It's a pleasure", he heard her say quietly as she bowed her head slightly. "I guess you have some questions?" Carefully the woman lowered herself to a chair close to the windows and kept looking at Riddick while Aereon silently slipped from the room.

"Damn well I have!", he answered and took a chair opposite from her. "For once: What the fucking hell are you?"

A small smile curved her lips and Riddick became aware, how full they actually were. "Right to the point, how typically Furyan of you…", she murmured and looked him straight in the eyes, like only few people dared – and actually survived. "I'm a Furyan – as I guess Aereon already told you."

"Doesn't explain the little trick you do with your eyes and hair", he simply stated and stretched out his long legs.

Even as he said that her eyes began to change and the bright orbs reappeared in their centres while her hair changed it's colour back to blond. "That's because I'm not a pure-blooded Furyan. My mother was an Elemental", she explained casually. "An Elemental of the Aether…"

Riddick sucked in a breath. He didn't know much about Elementals, just that there where five designations. Fire, Water, Air, Earth and the rarest of them… Aether – the essence, embodied as pure darkness. This little information gave the matter a certain edge. "Interesting… so you got your seer-powers from that side of the family…"

Her expression darkened. "Indeed", she answered. "Didn't do me any good anyway…"

Smirking Riddick watched every slightest movement of the female opposite of him. "Already heard that… you told that sick bastard, who would end him…"

"I did…" Adria waited for Riddick to accuse her of being responsible for the end of their civilisation, but he didn't seem to want to go down that road. She was actually grateful for that… "And I was right about it…", she finally stated when he said nothing more. "A Furyan Alpha-male, hardened by countless battles…"

"Are you flattering me?"

"Just stating a fact", Adria replied without blinking. "Aereon told me about you… Richard B. Riddick… soldier, convict, wanted for murder and treason by every bounty hunter, bushwhacker and Merc in the known galaxies… you are a survivalist, Riddick."

Riddick grounded his teeth. He didn't like where this conversation was heading. "Not telling me anything new there…"

"Indeed not", Adria said leaning back in her chair. "I have only two questions for you."

"Being?" _Wasn't he supposed to ask the questions here?,_ Riddick asked himself, but didn't say his thought out loud. This woman had something on her that got to him.

She smiled again, this time showing a little bit of teeth, a spark lightening her eyes. "One: Are you a honourable man, Riddick?" He had to suppress a laugh but she didn't miss a beat. "And two: Will you help me reunite the remaining Furyans and reclaim our planet? Our home?"

Riddick stared at her in utter disbelieve…


	3. Treason

**AN: **Recommended Soundtrack: Hopeless, _Breaking Benjamin_

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><p><strong>3 – Treason <strong>

Was she fucking serious? Or had the decades of cryo-sleep done irreparable damage to her brain? "What the fucking hell are you talking about? Uniting the Furyans?"

"You heard me quite correctly", Adria replied evenly. "There is a good chance that there are some Furyans left out there."

Riddick couldn't keep in his seat anymore. "You must be fucking joking!", he said, pacing the room. "Besides, Furya is lost. Nobody can live there, even if we actually had the coordinates to find the planet. There are no maps left, no charts, nothing…" He had searched for the planet himself for quite some time now. Without success…

She gave him an odd look. Rising slowly on shaky feet she made Riddick stop dead in his tracks and realise, that she was definitely not fully recovered. "Before everything went down the drain, I was a Lieutenant on board of a Furyan warship. I know the coordinates, there is no way in hell I would ever forget them." Adria pinned him with her gaze "Furyans are warriors by birth; we can handle a hostile planet, besides who said nobody could live there? I bet that's a myth, forged by the Lord Marshal. You have a whole goddamn fleet at your service right now, why not go there and check?"

Riddick had to admit she had a point. He didn't know what to do with the Necros at this point anyway… he definitely didn't want to be their leader. So why not take at least one of the ships and search for a forgotten planet that was most likely uninhabitable…?

"Riddick…" He caught Adria's dark gaze again. "You of all people should know what it means to be alone out there, not to have a place to call home… please, Riddick…"

_Damn… just damn…_

ooo

"What do you mean I'm not coming with you!?"

Riddick took a deep calming breath. He had known that this discussion would come – and that it would be in no way easy. Kyra stood in front of him, hands on her hips. "Are you fucking kiddin' me!?", she screamed, nearly making him wince and earning him a sympathetic glance from Adria, who was leaning against the wall next to the door of the _Basilica's _war room, quietly talking to Aereon.

"I want you off this goddamn ship as soon as possible", he said as calm as humanly possible. "I don't trust the Necros as far as I can throw them."

"Then take me with you!"

Riddick turned his back to her and rolled his eyes. They had talked about this again and again during the last month, since he had told her he would head to Furya with Adria, but never to this extend. Well… he just hadn't mentioned yet, that there was no way in hell he would take Kyra to Furya with him. At least not right now. "Too dangerous. We don't know what's awaiting us there."

"But you are taking her with you!" Riddick could hear the pouting in Kyra's voice when he turned back towards her and saw her pointing at Adria, who just raised one finely curved eyebrow.

"Just because she knows that damn planet!" Slowly Riddick was loosing his patience. "You will leave with Aereon for Quintessa within the next hour; if I have to tie you up and put you on the damn shuttle personally! End of discussion!", he roared, staring Kyra down until she finally looked away, eyes damp, and stormed out of the room.

Groaning quietly he turned to the maps on the table again and folded his hands behind his neck when Adria stepped up to him. "She will understand eventually…", she said quietly, pulling up some close-up charts in front of her on the table. It seemed that Furya was not as hostile as he had thought intentionally. With the coordinates Adria had given him, they had been able to get at least a few up-to-date charts from the sector, the planet was located in.

"It's the _eventually_-part that has me worried…", he murmured as an answer. "Honestly, when push comes to shove I'd rather have her at my back than you, sweetheart…" He bit his tongue; he definitely shouldn't have said that out loud. "No offense…", he said as an excuse.

But Adria just shook her head. "None taken. You two know each other, it's natural that you wish to have her at your back in the worst case…" That made Riddick look at her again. She had fully recovered during this past weeks, had even visited the training room frequently as he had been informed but she still walked the corridors of the ship like a ghost. He could tell Adria wasn't telling him everything she knew about their homeworld but who was he to ask? It wasn't like he had told her everything… for example that he had a really bad feeling about this little trip, and his instincts seldom got him wrong… Plus it had taken him longer to initiate this expedition, than he liked. His new duties as the Lord Marshal had kept him from just disappearing weeks ago.

"You are protecting her…", Adria went on quietly. "…and you are right not to trust the Necros…"

"Should I trust you?" He eyed her carefully, waiting for her to look up to him for an answer. Looking for even the slightest hint of betrayal in her behaviour, in her scent. But he didn't detect anything. Just her normal scent he hat to come to know by now – a mixture of the sea and wildflowers. Her hair was it's normal blonde, her eyes shining back at him.

"That's for you to decide when the time comes", Adria stated simply, looking back down onto her charts.

It was strange to watch Kyra depart with Aereon later that day. She still didn't talk to Riddick. Stubborn little girl… or woman… but it was all for her best…

The Necros would take on their travel to the Underverse under Vaako's command while Riddick was gone – not that he planned on returning for long – if ever… The ships had order to not make any stops in between… no more people should be forced to convert to the Necromonger's believes.

He himself and Adria would depart for Furya the next morning with one of the smaller shuttles and minimal crew. It was a week's travel to the planet, counting on the faster ships the Necros used for transportation. No cryo-sleep. A single look at Adria's face had been enough for Riddick when Vaako had asked, what kind of ship he should get ready for the travel. No way in hell would she take a step into a cryo-tube again… ever…

The week did give Adria more time to recover and to brief Riddick for what was to come, or at least of what she remembered of Furya. He would listen for hours when she told him not only about the planet's geographical structure but also about how she had felt, wandering the woods, hunting deer or travelling with their people's watercrafts.

It was also a plus, that they had time to train together. Getting used to each others fighting skills was essential, if anything should go wrong. What they didn't count on was that they were to be ambushed on the completely wrong planet…

ooo

The moment they stepped out of the shuttle, Adria had a bad feeling; intensifying from second to second. Next to her she felt Riddick tense. "Something is wrong…", she murmured quietly while studying the landscape around and below her. The cliffs, the red and orange rocks… this definitely didn't feel like home… "It's wrong… just… wrong…"

"You don't say, sweetheart…"

"It's a long way to come!" The voice of one of the Necros, Krone, one of Vaako's aids, got them back to the present… "For this…"

Adria ground her teeth. "This is not Furya…", she hissed only for Riddick to hear, who knelt down and took some of the sand into his hand, letting it run trough his fingers.

"Get yourself ready to fight, dear…", he murmured. Then everything happened incredibly fast.

The first two assassins were down before Adria could blink an eye, killed by Riddick's knives, she hadn't even seen him throw. Damn! That guy was good! But so was she… Moving with the speed of an Elemental she had the third assassin on the ground within seconds, a knife sticking out of his right eye. Pulling the knife out of the lifeless body she threw it with one fluid motion, aiming for the throat of a fourth Necro, who was aiming his blaster at Riddick's back.

Her movements blurred as Adria drove for cover when Krone opened fire at them. By now Riddick had taken out their fifth attacker. Only Krone himself was left. Looking over to where Riddick had taken cover on the other side of the cliff he signalled her to stay where she was… Krone was his…

It just seemed the bastard had other plans. When he opened fire at the cliff itself, the ground under Riddick and Adria shook. Within seconds she caught his gaze. "Go!", he mouthed to her, knowing she could get out, calling to her Elemental-half.

"No!", she screamed out loud when the cliff gave way and she felt her instincts switching only to one goal – survival. Everything around her blurred, when Adria slipped into the shadows beneath the cliff and became one with them. She heard the faint cry of triumph from Krone about killing and keeping when she slipped further and further away from his position, afraid he would notice that she hadn't fallen down with half the cliff like Riddick. Eventually she stopped beneath a ledge that gave her enough room to take back her human form and still stay hidden.

Riddick… she had to get down to him. Fast! He had to be buried under the debris, most likely badly injured. She had to hurry, but if she got down to him and started digging while Krone was still up there, they would be an easy target for him. Adria could only hope Riddick would hold out long enough…

ooo

It felt like hours before Adria dared to move and climb down the rest of the cliff. When she finally got to the spot, where the debris had come down, all she found was a dead, winged creature she couldn't identify and blood on the sand and rocks that had to come from Riddick.

So he was indeed injured and had succeeded in getting out from under the stones. Adria was impressed. Judging on the tracks he had left behind, he hadn't walked but rather crawled away. Damn, she had underestimated his survival instinct. Of course he didn't wait for her to come and get him. Now she only had to find him, what could be hard work if he had found cover. And only the goddess knew the creatures that inhabited this planet. Adria looked at the birdlike thing at her feet. The little sucker actually looked more like some sort of reptile than like a bird. Urgs… Sighing she decided she had to start moving.

Only a few feet away lay the cloak, Riddick had shed earlier during the fight. It seemed to have fallen down the cliff too, so Adria picked it up. Nothing wrong with taking some extra blankets with her for the night she was sure would fall soon.

A pained cry got her attention when she followed the tracks Riddick had left behind. That was the moment she started running. Adria was glad she had stuck to her normal Elemental-gear, fitting black pants and shirt with the weapon harnesses on her thighs and back, combat boots and dark leather straps on her forearms completed with her distinctive black cloak, rather than taking the heavy Necromonger-armour like Riddick. This way she was moving fast and silently trough the canyon towards where the cry had come from when a movement in front of her made her stop and seek cover in the shadows.

Crap… On the rocks about 200 meters ahead of her were a hand full of four legged creatures that looked somehow like jackals. Fan-fucking-tastic… they sure as hell had heard Riddick too and Adria was certain the cry had come from him. When the jackals took chase, Adria followed them within a safe distance. No better way to find your target than with a dog ahead of you, right? The problem was just that those beasts were damn fast.

From the top of a rather large boulder she could see them searching an area around some rock pillars but without any success. Adria didn't know if that was good or bad. Thinking about the ground, Riddick had had to cover in this short time and with his injury, she could only imagine how fast he would be able to move when he was fully intact.

Ten minutes after the jackals had disappeared further into the canyon Adria arrived at the stone pillars, stopping dead in her tracks when she spotted Riddick, leaning against one of the smaller pillars. One hand holding a piece of his armour against his leg, the other pushing a metal bolt through the metal and – as Adria guessed – into his own flesh.

"Riddick!", the woman exclaimed a little out of breath and made the man a few feet away from her look up.

"Sweetheart", he gritted out between clenched teeth. "Care to give me a hand here?"

So much for a happy reunion. Sighing she stepped down from the rock she was standing on and went to her knees next to Riddick, taking the bolt out of his hand. "I was looking for you", she stated the obvious and felt stupid for it. "Any other injuries than the leg?"

"Few scratches and bruises, nothing major", Riddick answered emotionless. "I've had worse."

Looking up from his leg before she inserted the bolt she caught his eyes. "The tragedy is, I actually believe you." Shaking her head she moved the bolt to keep the metal plate in it's place to stabilise Riddick's leg. She didn't have to check the wound out herself, trusting him he knew what he was doing. "Just so you know, this is going to hurt like hell…", she stated matter of fact. "You can hold on to me if that helps… I'll make this quick."

"Nice, but no need to… argh! Goddamnit, woman!" Before he had been able to think about it too much, Adria had shoved the bolt home.

"Sorry…", she murmured sheepishly and took the second bolt from him. This time when she put it into place Riddick ground his teeth and buried his hand in Adria's cloak.

"Done", she finally stated and leaned back onto her haunches, studying Riddick's face. Her gaze stopped at the deep cut at the right side of it that went from his temple straight to his jaw. Grimacing Adria turned his head to the side to get a better look. "That one needs to be cleaned and looked at… quite a nasty one…"

"Don't you say…", Riddick growled. Adria's touch on his skin felt strangely comforting considered their current situation. Stranded on an unknown planet without the possibility to contact their people for rescue. "We should get moving, find water and cover for the night."

The female Furyan stood and helped the male next to her to get up. "True. The stench of the sulphur here makes me sick anyway…"

ooo

They headed deeper into the canyon, following the direction the jackals had taken. There had to be water somewhere… Adria had slung her arm around Riddick's hips while he had his arm around her shoulders, taking most of his weight from his bad leg.

Eventually a set of even higher cliffs came into view and they made their way into the shadows of a rather small passage between the rocks. They hadn't talked much on their way. Riddick trying to suppress the pain, he was definitely in and Adria supporting him as best as she could, more and more carrying and dragging him forward. They desperately needed a place, where Riddick could rest for a while until his injuries had healed at least a little bit and where Adria could survey the contents of the small emergency pack attached to the harness on her hip. She was sure she had something in there that would help him, but right now there was no time. Especially since every medication to jumpstart healing would probably make Riddick sleep for days.

The sound of running water made both of them stop and look at each other. "Water…", they whispered simultaneously and Adria dragged Riddick further into the cave like passage to the source of the sound. A small rivulet was trickling down from far above them, making the ground they walked on slippery. Large puddles had formed everywhere, taking up most of the space in the cave. After a short check they declared the water coming from above drinkable and satisfied their thirst.

"I never thought, that water could taste that good!", Adria sighed after she had splashed some of the water onto her face and neck and grinned in Riddick's direction who had stepped right under the spray, cleaning away the dust and blood.

Adria stepped next to him and raised her hand to clean the cut on his face with her now soaked cloak. "It seems not as deep as it looked in the first place", she finally stated. "Must hurt like hell anyway…"

Something that could have been a chuckle escaped Riddick. "Don't know what doesn't hurt at the moment, sweetheart…" Then he looked past her to the other end of the cave. There, across a rather large puddle, was an even smaller corridor between the rocks that looked like natural formed stairs. "You think we could get to the other side of the cliffs that way?"

"Possibly…", Adria murmured, blinking the water away from her lashes when she stepped out of the spray. "I'll go check, you stay here…" She had not quite made her way over to the puddle when a barking and growling sound made her shrink back into the shadows, searching for Riddick's eyes. There were only about ten feet separating them and he too had taken two steps back into the darkness when some jackals entered the cave.

"Damn…", Adria hissed, her hands moving automatically to the two daggers at her back. But the jackal-creatures didn't seem to have noticed them yet. They on the other hand didn't remain that lucky…


	4. Recovery

**AN:** Recommended Soundtrack: Things we lost in the Fire, _Bastille_

* * *

><p><strong>4 – Recovery<strong>

Adria frowned when a snake like creature surfaced from the puddle, one of the jackals had been approaching, then a second one and finally a third. What the fuck was that? Adria clamped her hands over her mouth and stared in horror when the creature that had surfaced first, attacked the jackal and locked it's jaws in it's hind leg. Apparently the surfacing part of the scary creature's body hadn't been the head but rather the tail. A scorpion like tail for fuck's sake! It only took seconds before the jackal's muscles twitched one last time and the beast lay dead on the ground. The hunter had easily become prey…

Adria looked back in Riddick's direction and saw him turning around to face another of the scorpion-creatures. Oh holy shit! When the creature pounced, Riddick could stop it only shortly before it sunk it's teeth into his flesh by slamming a giant bone between them. Adria acted on pure instinct, calling to her Elemental-half and pulling the daggers from her back-harness. She went flying, severing the tail of the creature off it's body with one blade while the other sunk into the creature's flesh right behind his head where Adria assumed was the spine.

She missed… or rather the spine was not essential for the creature, because it was still alive. While it screamed in agony, the woman came to land next to Riddick, pulling him to his feet with her. "C'mon, let's go!" They only stopped, when they stepped out into the sun again.

"Fuck!", Adria screamed. "Are we on the menu of everything on this goddamn planet?!"

Now she was sure she heard Riddick chuckle. "Seems so, sweetheart." He was leaning against a rock, breathing heavily. By his stance Adria could tell he was in pain – and that badly.

"We need to find cover for the night, see that we get you back to strength…", she stated eventually and stepped next to her fellow castaway. "A nice, fancy hotel wouldn't be available, what do you think?"

ooo

Their _hotel_ turned out to be a cave, or rather a former home in a cave like structure in what seemed to be a former settlement. Abandoned for decades if not centuries or longer. The carvings and cave paintings on the walls and the scattered bowls and mugs fit into that picture. Most of the old dishes were broken but some had remained intact. _Could come in handy,_ Adria thought as she studied the paintings.

She turned abruptly when the massive granite block, that had marked the centre of the room only seconds before, crashed down on the ground behind her back. "Goddamnit, Riddick!", Adria exclaimed when she realized he had knocked the stone over. "A warning would have been nice!"

"No time for warnings, sweetheart", he simply stated before climbing up the last steps to where the block had crashed down over what seemed to have been some kind of a fireplace at some point.

Realization dawned in Adria. "You are planning to rest under that damn stone?", she asked disbelieving.

"Where else, darling? Need a place that's at least semi-safe. You can stay up there on the ledge, but I'd rather not try to climb up there right now." Riddick pointed at the ledge that circled the room a few meters above and lay in the shadow of the ceiling. True, it would be perfect for her to rest and still be covered by darkness, should she need to hide.

Shrugging Adria had to admit he had a point. "Well, then at least let me see if I have something to jumpstart your healing in here." She clipped the emergency pack from her harness and opened it. As small as it was it still contained some essentials that would help them to survive. Or in Riddick's case heal faster than he usually would.

"What are you? Some kind of boy scout?", he asked and leaned against the rock he had just wanted to vanish beneath.

Adria smiled. "Nah… not quite", she replied and pulled out a small zip bag about one square inch in size. "Old habits just die hard…" the young woman looked up at him. "Have you ever taken _Zihx_?"

Riddick shook his head. He had heard of the potent drug that would start healing major injuries within seconds and would accelerate one's healing ability but he had never gotten his hand on it. Damn, that would have come in handy sometimes. "That's some quite illegal stuff you have there", he pointed out as Adria handed him the small bag with the white powder in it.

She just smiled. "Doesn't mean you don't need it right now. It was a gift from Aereon. You need to pour it into your mouth… should start to work right away."

"What else do you have in your magic pack, sweetheart." He eyed the white powder warily before pouring it into his mouth. A strange sweet taste spread on his tongue immediately.

Her mood dropped. "Not as much as I'd like…", she answered. "No transmitter or anything to call for help. Just handful bags of _Zihx,_ antiseptic salve and bandages for minor injuries, chemicals to decontaminate water and a sewing kit." It was frustrating. Had she planned this expedition better, they would not have travelled with the Necros alone but also an Elemental-guard… They would not be hiding in a goddamn cave…

"Better than nothing, sweetheart…" Riddick's voice slurred, making Adria look up at him. "Damn… that shit works fast…"

She was next to him a second later. "You should rest now. I'll keep an eye on the area as long as you are out…" He needed to get down under the stone by himself – what wouldn't be possible for long from now on – there was no way that Adria could get him into hiding, Riddick was far too heavy for her.

"Out…?", Riddick growled out while slipping under the rock. "For how long?"

Adria swallowed. "A day? Or two, possibly more…"

"What the…" He didn't finish. Riddick had fallen asleep the moment his body had touched the sandy ground.

"Crap…", Adria hissed pushed her hands into her hair. This was bad… this whole situation had gotten out of control…

ooo

Riddick dreamed. And if that wasn't unusual enough, it was the strangest dream he had ever had. It didn't take him long to realise he was in de midst of a vision. Shit… that explained the nausea that had gotten hold of him…

He stood in a giant ballroom, hidden behind the columns of an archway. On one side of the room a giant waterfall cascaded down from the ceiling into a pool and further down through the open railing of the balcony on the other side. A handful of steps beneath Riddick lay the dance floor, where people swayed to the sound of soft music. But what truly caught Riddick's eye was the couple at the other side of the room. Two thrones were positioned on a slightly raised platform at the pool. The male stood next to the throne, the female sat on, his hand resting on her shoulder as he watched the people move in front of them. The eyes of those two were what kept Riddick staring. Both had the same eyeshine as he himself and as his gaze wandered over the people in front of him, he became aware of the fact, that many of them shared the same trait.

"What the fuck…?", Riddick growled and turned abruptly when a female stepped next to him. A female, he knew very well by now. "What the hell is this and what am I doing here?!"

"Nice to see you too, Riddick", Shirah stated evenly and kept her gaze on the crowd. The petite female, he knew by now was a Furyan spirit, didn't look as if she was about to answer his question anytime soon.

"Listen, lady…", Riddick said shortly from loosing his temper. "…I've had my share of evasive females by now. Start talking or let me get back and out of this damn vision or dream or whatever this shit is!"

She just raised an eyebrow and turned towards Riddick, staring him in the eyes. "What do you think this is, boy?" She didn't give him the chance to answer before she went on – and by the way… he hated it when she called him a _boy_… he was thirty-one years old for God's sake! "This was Furya…" Shirah raised her arms, including everything in her gesture. "The royal house of the Furyan Regis-family."

The Furyan male frowned. "Regis-family? My ass…!" His gaze went back to the couple by the thrones. "You mean those two?"

"Exactly", Shirah stated. "Derrick and Elssbett of the royal house of the Dragos-Clan. They are the Alpha-pair that leads all Furyans." Her gaze too rested on the couple. A sad look had spread on her face. "They didn't survive the attack of the Necromongers… both died only weeks after this celebration…"

Riddick stood completely still as he took in the Regis-pair. The male was massive, about his own size, broad shouldered and had shaved his head but left a good week's growth of stubble on his face. He was a warrior that much Riddick could tell even if the male hadn't been clad in armour and carried a broadsword strapped to his back. The female on the other hand seemed petit compared to her mate. A mass of dark curls framed her face, tamed only by two thin ropes of what seemed to be gold. Her skin was slightly darker than her mate's but that only gave her appearance an exotic touch. It was her face that captured Riddick's attention completely. Her features bore an eerie familiarity… And there was the fact that she was heavily pregnant… Her gown couldn't hide the fact that she was about to give birth soon.

"Damn…", Riddick exclaimed quietly. It was like a block of ice had formed in his chest. This was simply impossible! A slight panic spread inside him. "Whose memory is this?" He turned to Shirah abruptly. "This is a memory, right?! Whose!"

The spirit just raised her gaze to his. "So, you have finally understood?", she murmured quietly.

Riddick had reached the end of his patience. There was only so much he could take from this female. Before he even had registered what he was doing, he had Shirah by her throat and pressed her against the pillar next to them. "Answer me!"

Surprise reached her eyes as she grabbed his wrist, trying to loosen his grip. "Not mine", she whispered and glanced past him to the entrance of the ballroom.

As Riddick followed her view he stopped dead in his tracks and let go of Shirah immediately. He recognised the female who now entered the ballroom right away. Never could he have mistaken her movements or the way her blond locks fell loosely over her shoulders, disregarding the dark eyes with the gleaming orbs in their centres. But those were about the only resemblances this Adria shared with the woman he had come to know.

She was practically glowing, wearing a gown similar to that of the Alpha-female. Not one of her Elemental cloaks or the battle-gear he had seen her wear frequently. Her hair was loose, except of the thin braids artfully worked into the mass of blond tresses. There were no weapons strapped to her back or thighs, just the flowing fabric of the dress on her body. And a male arm, wrapped around her back.

Riddick's gaze focused on the male next to Adria who had his arm wrapped possessively around her. She didn't seem to mind his presence for that matter. It was rather that she leaned into his touch. A heavy pang of jealousy echoed through Riddick's body unexpectedly. The male was tall too, with his hair cut military short, his eyes had the same glow as those of most of the other Furyans. He held himself like the high rank military he was, judging by his heavily decorated uniform and armour. "Who is he?", Riddick asked without looking at Shirah, who stood next to him again.

"Caden, Adria's mate."

The word _mate_ made Riddick growl and the fact that Adria had wrapped one of her own arms around her swollen belly while the male swung her around on the dance floor, didn't make things any better. She too was expecting a child – and that soon. Love and happiness were practically radiating from her in waves. "What happened to him? To them?"

Shirah swallowed audibly. "Caden was not on the planet when the Necros attacked and you know what they did to Adria, as for her son… that is for her to tell…"

Riddick stared at the spirit. "Are you telling me he left his pregnant mate alone?"

But instead of answering him, the female was already fading. "It's time for you to wake up now, Riddick."

"What?! Are you fucking kiddin' me!? No!", Riddick called after her, but there was no use. Shirah was already gone and he too felt the world around him start to spin. God! How he hated those damn visions…

ooo

Adria was just returning from a little trip to the sulfur-ponds with a nice catch in her hands when she heard Riddick groan. Within seconds she had left the fish discarded on the floor and pushed against the granite block covering his den. That groan was the first sign of life he had shown since more than two days ago – what spoke of the severity of his injuries. She had actually tried to check his pulse more than once in the meantime – no easy task since she could hardly reach him with her fingertips.

It took her some minutes to shove the stone out of the way, even with Riddick's help from beneath it, and get him out from under there. He was leaning against the outside of the fireplace, stretching his stiff legs when she went to get some water for him from the ancient pitcher she had used to get the water from the scorpion-creatures-cave earlier. Something she hadn't looked forward to but that had become a necessary routine these last days.

"How long was I out?", she heard Riddick murmur behind her, his voice raspy from lack of use and liquids.

"A little more than two days…" Crouching down beside him and handing a smaller mug filled with water to Riddick she took in his injuries. The gash on his face had faded to a thin line. It was still slightly open but far away from the nasty cut it had been. As for his leg… they would have to remove the armour-splint to see how far the healing had progressed.

"So… sleeping beauty…", she started eventually, after Riddick had emptied two mugs of water. "How are you feeling? Shall we remove the splint and check your leg?"

Riddick just stared at her for some seconds. "I need to ask you something…", he finally said quietly, making her frown.

"Hmm?" Adria raised her eyebrows in question. "Well… shoot…"

It seemed to take him a moment to form his question or rather he debated if he really should ask – Adria couldn't say for sure. "What happened to your family… to your mate and your child?"

Every last bit of colour drained from Adria's face…

"I need a moment…", she breathed when she felt able to get up from her crouch and stumbled blindly out of the cave, hand pressed to her mouth…


End file.
